Zuckerberg Ripped in Media by Former Friends, Partners

When eWEEK asked whether or not
Zuckerberg is making the donation to counter the bad press the movie is
expected to bring, a Facebook spokesperson said, "I'm afraid we have
nothing to announce."
At least one social media analyst who follows Facebook closely was hesitant
to attribute the donation announcement to the timing of The Social Network.

Calling the donation an "extraordinary sum for a school system that can
desperately use the cash," Forrester Research analyst Augie Ray noted that while the timing of this
donation might seem coincidental with the release of the film, Zuckerberg's
image has been in need of aid for some time.

"He's been the target of several scathing books and plenty of angry
blog posts about his opinions on personal privacy and Facebook's privacy
settings, " said Ray. "I'm inclined to
feel that this is part of a longer term effort for Zuckerberg to give back to
others while improving his reputation rather than it being a specific broadside
at the upcoming movie."
Indeed, Zuckerberg, whose fortune Forbes estimated at $6.9 billion, has often been accused of being
cavalier about user privacy. The company has weathered several privacy
concerns, dating back to a failed advertising program called Beacon in 2007, up through its Instant Personalization effort this past
spring.
Learning from such past resistance, the company was largely praised for the
privacy measures it provided for Facebook Places earlier this summer.
Fair or foul, Zuckerberg has seen some nasty allegations mount just ahead of
the film's opening. Content ranges from the publishing of instant messages in which he expressed insensitivity about people
and discussed cutting them out with "dirty tricks," to an
unflattering anecdote made public by Zuckerberg's fellow Harvard
classmate, Aaron Greenspan.